In Ganymede's Shadow
by EbonyOsmosis
Summary: A distress signal lost to the void of space finally escapes after ten days, an eternity for the crew of Peacemillion. By then it's already too late.  AU fic. Rated for language and blood
1. Prologue: Going Dark

In Ganymede's Shadow

Prologue: Going Dark

* * *

><p>"If everyone could take a seat, please."<p>

The crew looked up from their conversations when Quatre walked into the room, immediately breaking off from their groups to sit down in the chairs provided. The blonde man walked to the front of the tactical room, carrying only a cup of coffee and a small thumb drive. He set the coffee down and used a panel on the wall to dim the lights before putting the thumb drive into a small port on the base of the computer. Immediately a holographic image popped up to hover mid air between the blonde and his audience.

"You have all been called from your normal duties to assist in today's mission. We are about to undergo a search and rescue in a hostile environment," Quatre began in a grim voice. He moved his hand to the hologram to tap it, as if it were solid, and an image of a large space miner appeared, rotating soundly. "This is the Peacemillion, a mining ship that was stationed in Quadrant 4-9 of the mine field around Jupiter's moon, Ganymede," he explained. He tapped the image of the huge mining ship, and the image zoomed in to the starboard side of the hull. "Ten days ago, the ship sent out a distress signal. Because of the heavy electromagnetic energy around Ganymede, the transmission was rebounded through the minefield before it finally escaped and hit the nearest Interspace center."

The crew seated around the room looked wary at this, sharing glances at each other. After ten days in a hostile environment, who would be left to rescue?

Quatre seemed to sense their thoughts, and immediately moved on to the crux on the problem, tapping the side of the hull he had zoomed in on. The holograph morphed to show a large, jagged hole. "Our preliminary scans show that the hull has been breached here," he said, tapping another part of the screen so that a small image appeared. He brought up both hands, placing one at each corner of the image and pulling his hands apart, increasing the size of the photo. "Satellites in the surrounding area captured this image of the damage."

Worried murmurs immediately broke out when they could all see the image properly. The breach in the hull was definitely not made by a collision. It was as if the metal had been peeled open, and the jagged edges almost looked like they had claw marks. "What hell did that?" someone from the crew asked.

Quatre waved a hand across the screen and picture minimized, to be replaced by a chart of thermal readings. "Sensors indicate presence of alien activity, as shown by the thermal sweep preformed just hours ago. These readings," he said, pointing to massive energy spikes on the far left, "Are alien energy readings," he finished grimly.

"There has to be at least a hundred of them!" someone blurted.

"And these readings," Quatre continued unhindered, pointing to some smaller readings. "Are human energy. They are clearly outnumbered, so it is of dire importance that we make contact as soon as possible and extract them."

The crew began to mumble again, unsure of this mission and clearly not all that convinced. "I don't know," someone mumbled. "Going into that many hostiles for a handful of crew?"

"Enough!" Quatre barked, and the breach from his usual kind and collected disposition brought everyone to abrupt attention. "Two of these crew members are our own! If our ship had been invaded and we were a 'handful' left of crew, would you want help or would you prefer everyone ignore it?" he asked sternly. No one made a peep, trying to avoid the blonde's gaze. "That's what I thought," he said calmly. "Now. I will turn this portion of the debriefing over to Commander Yuy," he said, stepping away from holographic console as another young man stepped up.

"Infiltration needs to be precise and without error," Heero said briskly and without preamble. "To avoid casualties of either crew, there cannot be any holes in our strategy. We will enter from the main docking bay while a separate armed portion of the crew will monitor the breach in the hull, to watch for alien activity as the ship docks. As we approach Peacemillion, we will do a final scan of the ship to find the positions of the survivors. Extracting the crew will take first priority, after that, we may move in on the offensive to eradicate the hostiles."

"Commander Yuy," someone said, standing up to address the Japanese man. "How can we find all of the remaining crew before the hostiles realize we're there?"

"We won't," Heero grunted. "They'll know of our presence before we even set foot in the docking bay. Then it becomes a matter of finding our targets before hostiles decide to attack us as well. We will have some help on the other side. As Quatre pointed out, two of these men are temp agents," he said, tapping the mid-air console to bring up two photos, one of a young man with brown hair in a long braid, and the other a Chinese man about the same age with stern eyes. "Agents Duo Maxwell of Stealth and Engineering divisions and Wufei Chang of Combat division."

Another murmur swept through the crowd. Even though these two men were only temp agents, they were well known. "Maxwell and Chang? Shit, I wonder if they're okay?"

"Out of those who survived this long, I have no doubt those two are among the numbers," Heero said, breaking up the whispers once more. "As you all know, these men are two of our top agents. So they will be defending themselves. The ones who we really need to worry about are the crew members, most of whom have not been trained for combat," he said grimly, this statement reflecting what had already happened to most of ship's personnel after ten days without help.

This implication washed over the personnel in a dispiriting aura, but Heero continued before they could dwell on it too much. "We owe it to the remaining to crew to at least help whoever remains, despite the delayed escape of the distress call. We will go in and scout the damage while locating the survivors. Until we know what species we are dealing with, everyone must remain on highest guard. We watch each others backs and remain attentive and observant like you were trained to be," he said strongly, inspiring the crew with his words. A wave of determination passed over them like a wave, and Heero could see their resolve forming.

He nodded once in a short, quick motion, pleased by the change in attitude. He would not tolerate anything less. "Good," he said in response. "ETA to Peacemillion is two hours. Be suited up and ready in the docking bay when we arrive. Dismissed."

As the crew dispersed from the tactical room, Quatre moved from his position against the wall to rejoin Heero. The Japanese man was turning the lights back on when Quatre approached, all business and face completely serious. His expression was void of concern or apprehension, but Quatre knew the man better than that. He could see the tense edge to his movements, the harried edge to his eyes. It was at times like this that Quatre wished he could be the strong one, that he could instill confidence in his friend when he needed it. But things looked so grim...

"Do you think they're alright?" he asked quietly, observing keenly how Heero's movements faltered.

"I do," he answered in all honesty, eyes still fixed on the softly glowing light control panel.

"But...?"

"I'm feeling something peculiar than I'm not familiar with."

"And what's that?" Quatre asked carefully.

"Guilt. That we let them go through this for ten days already," Heero surmised. His voice was calculating, ever the logical thinker and trying to process all the variables in his head. But his face read otherwise, bordering somewhere on confusion and worry. "The logical part of myself knows that there's no way we could have known of the dilemma since the distress signal could not escape. But that doesn't stop my emotions from plaguing me."

The blonde felt a small smile fighting to emerge despite the situation. Sometimes Heero could be confounded by his own feelings, and while it could often be frustrating when the man didn't want to deal with the confusion, other times it was somewhat cute. "That just means you're human, Heero. The signal didn't reach us sooner, but there's nothing we can do about that and it's not anyone's fault. All we can do is go in and help our friends," he said in an encouraging manner, feeling bolstered.

"We'll find them."

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><p><em>End Prologue<em>


	2. Chapter 1: Landing

In Ganymede's Shadow

Chapter 1: Landing

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><p>The crew of Wing Zero watched on in varying emotions as the imposing form of Ganymede came closer and closer, eventually taking up the entire starboard window of the observation bay. The massive object loomed imposingly, the cloud formations in its thin atmosphere swirling over the massive craters and tectonic lines that rippled across the surface. The Wing Zero slowly coasted around Jupiter's satellite until they came upon the mine field in Ganymede's shadow, and within the hushed field, their target waited.<p>

The Peacemillion drifted dark and silent with its power out, lost to the mine field's gravity field without anyway to keep itself stable. It was eerie to see the ship in person as opposed to hearing the reports or seeing satellite photos. The ship was so huge, but with all the lights and engines off it looked like a slumbering giant. Parts of the vessel were heavily damaged, scraps of rock and debris floating in areas where collision had occurred. And even more stark in clarity, the breach in the hull where the ripped metal and machinery was still sparking angrily.

As they got closer to the miner it became apparent on the left side that some of the escape pods were missing from the side of the ship. Heero watched this from his position at the docking bay, confusion furrowing his brow as he thought. There had been no reports of survivors escaping the Peacemillion, so where had the escape pods ended up?

He couldn't imagine that someone was out there drifting through space. An escape pod would have been jettisoned out clear of the mine field, so a distress signal would have gotten through and they had not received anything other than from the main ship. That made another though pop into Heero's head. Why hadn't someone launched out in an escape pod to get help? A kind of 'message in a bottle' idea, but no one had made contact. So where were the missing pods and who -or what- did they hold inside?

"Sir, we're ready."

Heero abruptly broke out of his whirling thoughts, turning to see one of his soldiers standing in his gear and uniform with weapon held in his hands. He took one last glance out the window, something about the escape pods just nagging him, before turning to follow the man to where his crew was waiting.

The group stood together in oppressive silence as the Wing Zero closed in. The engines cuts and thrusters in the front activated to slow the ship's speed while the docking rig activated. They could see from their position the rig unfold from the docking bay, heavy mechanical arms reaching out to clamp onto the Peacemillion and hold the two ships together on a level field. The miner's huge bay door was open with more debris and scraps floating about, making it easy yet dangerous for the smaller transport vessel containing Heero and his men to invite themselves in.

The small scouting ship departed from Wing Zero's hangar, piloting carefully through the drifting obstacles and into Peacemillion's bay. A docking station that would fit their ship was found easily enough, and Heero watched out the window as the pilot eased down into the cradle. The lights in the docking bay were flickering slightly from time to time, but it made it obvious that the space miner hadn't lost all power. So when the mechanical arms came up to secure around their scouting vessel, the bay door of the Peacemillion began to close up behind them, sealing shut with an imposing clatter.

A loud hissing signaled the rush of air filling the bay as pressure returned, and after that, a vast echoing silence left everyone's ears ringing and hearts thumping madly.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere on the space miner, two lone figures moved down an abandoned corridor, rifles at the ready. They were rumpled and haggard looking, clothes dirty and torn with half-hearted armor that was never meant for combat thrown over those. Haphazard first aid covered parts of their bodies with blood, both old and fresh, staining the bandages. Their hands were rough from work and combat over the years and more recently from the happenings aboard their once safe and sound ship.<p>

The place that they had come to know as home, the ship they had lived on for over year, where they worked, slept, made friends and a life, was no longer a home. The cold, dark corridors posed danger at every turn. Every sound meant the chance of death. But this time, the sound was different. Where usually the screech of protesting metal meant something was coming, this one was different.

"Wait, did you hear that?" Duo said suddenly, holding a hand out. They both paused, straining in the silence to hear what was happening on the far side of the ship. "That sounds like the docking rig..." he said in amazement, looking over at Wufei. "Someone's on the ship!"

"And making enough noise to alert ever crawler in the place," the Chinese man said with a scowl. "Trying to rescue us, tch! At this rate we'll have to rescue _them_!" he growled.

"Calm down," Duo said, placing a gloved hand on Wufei's arm. "We'll get to a comm. station before they go running into the dead parts. C'mon!" he said, picking up his plasma rifle before heading around the corner. Wufei followed him, surveying behind them as they made their way down the corridor. As much as he'd told Wufei to relax, Duo was having much the same feelings of trepidation. Whoever was docking on the Peacemillion was obviously heading off a rescue mission, but he knew without a doubt they had no idea what they were in for. They had to find a comm. station as soon as possible; otherwise there would soon be a bigger problem.

"Who would be so brain dead as to step aboard this ship?" Wufei mumbled suddenly in the oppressive silence.

Duo wanted to defend their would-be rescuers, but the other part of him wanted to curse their stupidity as well. "You have to remember, we didn't even know what was going on when we sent out the distress signal," Duo reminded the other man quietly, stepping around a large spot of crusted blood. "They don't know what's going on."

"Exactly," Wufei replied. "What kind of rescue party just runs in without knowing what they're dealing with?" he asked rhetorically. "That's poor planning."

"No, that's foolish bravery," Duo replied with a sardonic smirk. "They mean well."

"Yes, and they're going to regret it," the Chinese man snorted.

"Look, here's the comm. unit," Duo announced suddenly as they carefully rounded a corner. "Watch my six," he told the other man.

"On it," Wufei replied, standing with his back to the brunette and his gun ready while Duo sent out a ship-wide signal. He could only hope they were near a comm. station of their own, otherwise there would be no helping the rescue party.

* * *

><p>The crew looked around in horror as they stepped out into the docking bay. The flickering lights illuminated great puddles and smears of blood, staining the darkened walls in a gruesome half-finished paint job. Everything was still deathly quiet, with no one rushing to greet the rescue party and no signs of the cause of all this bloodshed. Everything was dark and quiet, eerily so that it automatically put Heero's men on edge. The strange thing was, with all the blood and signs of struggle, there were no bodies. There was not a single trace of the crew.<p>

"What the fuck is going on in this place?" one of the men whispered, holding his gun at the ready in the suffocating silence.

"Be on your guard," Heero said in a low voice. He pressed a button on the device hanging from his ear, bringing a mini screen up in front of him. "Latest thermal scans show human activity on Deck 2, section B. We need to find the transport system or a tram to take us up there. Everyone hold formation tightly and be aware of your surroundings. We don't yet know what race of alien we're dealing with, so they could attack from anywhere. Move out," Heero said, leading the crew across the bloodied docking bay. "Keep watch of oxygen levels until we know how much of the ship was affected by the breach in the hull. If the emergency system was down, then it may not have sealed off the sector properly."

Together, the crew treaded towards the large bay doors that would lead to the interior of the ship, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the metal corpse that was Peacemillion. Heero held his plasma rifle at the ready as he led his men, feeling his heart beating firmly in his chest. The place was too quiet. There had been life readings from at least a dozen crew members, yet there was not a soul to be seen, living or otherwise. Where were the bodies of those killed? Where were the aliens? It didn't make sense, it was as if someone had come and collected the bodies after a massacre. The suffocating silence was obviously spooking his crew.

They walked on for several more minutes in silence, no one daring to speak lest they alert whatever had taken control of the ship. There were still no signs of bodies, until they turned a corner in the long hallway that led to the elevator.

"Is that an arm?" someone whispered frantically, drawing all attention to a small alcove where a severed human arm had been illuminated by one of the crew's flashlight.

"I heard something above us!" another whispered, and unrest started to spread among the ranks as they realized what they were walking into.

"Quiet!" Heero hissed, putting a stop to the growing whispers. "All of you be quiet, you're drawing attention to us," he said, kicking the severed arm away into the shadows and gesturing the men to follow. They hesitantly began their trek once more, heading for the tram system that would grant them access to the upper decks. Heero checked his visual comm. unit again to pull up the model of the ship, adjusting it to zoom in on the floor plan. "Okay, we're heading in the right direction, just stay on point and don't break formation."

"Commander, I heard it again," one of the men whispered fearfully.

Heero stopped, looking up at the grated ceiling that blocked off the ship's pipe and electrical systems. It was hard to see anything beyond the flickering bulbs attached to the ceiling, but he thought he saw something. "One of you, shine a light up there," he said in a low voice.

Someone dug out a heavy duty torch from their supply pack, turning it on and aiming the bright beam up at the grating. The uneven pattern cast crisscross shadows onto the pipes and walls above the duct, almost obscuring the flash of something fleshy looking disappearing with a clamor. "Holy shit!" one of the crew shouted in alarm, aiming his gun to fire up into the metal grating. But the thing was already gone, and Heero jumped out to put a hand over the barrel of the pulse rifle.

"Hold your fire!" he barked at the soldier. "You'll cause an explosion like that!"

"Sir, didn't you see that thing? There's something crawling around right over our heads!" the man insisted frantically.

"There's probably a lot more than that, but you can't just aim anywhere you please!" Heero insisted harshly. "Now keep moving! The sooner we find the crew the sooner we can get them to safety! _Then _we'll worry about those things!"

With more and more unease growing among his men, Heero led them further into the bowels of Peacemillion, intent on finding the remaining crew. He was well aware that whatever had been following them in the ducts was still out there somewhere, but he couldn't hear anything in the dead, vast silence. A lot of the lights were offline throughout the ship, leaving much of the area in near darkness, but it was never dark enough to hide the continuing sight of blood splatters and long smudges. But still they did not see hide nor hair of anything at all save for the severed arm and that brief glimpse through the grating. Still no dead bodies, still no encounter from hostiles.

When they arrived at the lift system that would bring them up to the tram control room, Heero reached out to touch the hologram panel to open the door.

He swore in surprise and backed up into one of the other crew as a body fell out of the elevator, previously supported by the doors. Now the bloody corpse fell out in a mess of mangled limbs.

"Holy shit!"

Ignoring the outburst, Heero held his pulse rifle at the ready and carefully edged towards the lift, looking into the dark space with trepidation. Seeing nothing inside, he moved a little further, stepping around the dead body, and shined the light up into the cart. The ceiling of the elevator cab was missing the maintenance panel, freshly torn wires sparking and illuminating smears of blood around the open hatch. Heero backed out to inspect the body, turning it over with his boot. Disgusted murmurs moved through the group of soldiers, while Heero's nose merely wrinkled in distaste. The dead crew member's body was pale, almost a sickly white that emphasized the veins in stark clarity. The wide open eyes were milky and blank, the mouth open in a last scream. "What the hell did this?" he wondered darkly, eyes narrowed. Something about the body didn't seem right, but he reached down and quickly snatched the name badge for identification.

"Keep moving," he ordered the men after a moment, herding them into the lift while watching the dark hallway beyond them. "Someone keep a rifle on the maintenance hatch," he added, noting again the still fresh blood around the ripped hatch. When everyone was inside, he pressed the button for the upper deck where the tram system waited, watching as the doors creaked shut.

Outside as the lift ascended, the body lay forgotten on the cold metal floor. Out of the shadows, a thin fleshy appendage slowly squirmed across the thatched ground. It hobbled towards the body, wrapped around the neck and pulled it into the shadows, leaving a trail of blood in wake of the corpse.

* * *

><p>When the soldiers arrived in the tram room, they stopped dead in their tracks, everyone holding their breath. On the far wall, a large map had been ripped off the wall, replaced with a message written in blood.<p>

_Cut off their limbs_

Under the message was another dead crew member, slumped against the wall and covered in blood nearly head to toe. Behind him was a large smear, clearly where he had fallen after leaving his last words to the world. Heero could feel the tension of the men behind him, surely on hair trigger now more than ever. "Do... Do you think they know we're here, Commander?" one of them asked in a low whisper, referring to whatever had done the slaughter. Heero carefully approached the body, taking the name tag from this one as well.

"It is likely," the Japanese man replied tersely after returning to his men. "Let's just..."

"Commander, look!" one of the crew said, pointing over to the console of the tram controls. A green light was blinking next to a blank screen, and it had definitely not been doing that when they first arrived in the room. "Looks like a transmission!"

Heero spread the men out to guard the various entries to the room, sticking them in groups just to be safe, before heading over to the console. The green light was actually a button with a little loudspeaker caption, so he pressed it, activating the blank screen. A holo-screen popped up in front of the solid one, and Heero got a dose of surprise and relief at the same time. "Maxwell," he breathed.

"_Heero? What-? Oh nevermind, I should have known you would pioneer this gig," _the man on the holo-screen said with a wry grin. Heero heard another voice, and he could vaguely see another person in the background. _"It's Heero!" _Duo said to the other.

"Is Chang with you?" the Commander asked, feeling relief start to flood his system.

Duo nodded. _"Yeah, but he's watching my back right now so he can't say hi."_

"How did you know we were here?" Heero queried, glancing back at his men for a moment to make sure all was well.

"_We didn't," _Duo replied with a shrug. _"Not specifically. We heard you in the docking bay, and immediately got to the nearest comm. unit to warn you. They're all over the ship, so we just sent out a general broadcast that would show up on every comm. unit in the place."_

"Warn us?" Heero repeated, eyebrows furrowed.

"_You obviously haven't met one yet," _Duo said, half in relief and half in fear. _"Heero, there are things on this ship. They're like nothing I've ever seen in the deepest mine fields, like they crawled outta a black hole. They're everywhere, Heero, even if you can't see them yet. If you find one, you have to-"_

"Cut off their limbs..." the Japanese man finished blankly.

Duo looked confused. _"Yeah, how did you know?"_

Heero wondered how much to divulge for a moment, but he had to remind himself. These two had already survived ten days of what was looking like a massive slaughter. They'd already lost crew mates, captains, friends. "There was a message left on the wall by one of your crew," he explained.

Duo's eyes immediately darkened as he glanced off to the side. _"Who was it?"_

Heero looked down at the name tag he'd collected from the body. "James Tanner."

The braided man clenched his eyes shut, taking a deep breath to steady himself. _"James,_" he breathed, blinking his eyes open once more as he stared intently at a point Heero couldn't see. Finally, he looked back up to the Commander. _"Where are you and your crew?"_

"The tram control room. We saw thermal readings of human energy and we were going to move to that location," Heero replied.

"_Can't," _Duo immediately rebuked. _"The tram system is down. One of the cars is blocking the track somewhere, so the whole thing is down. If you try to call in a tram it will just give you an error message," _the brunette explained. _"You'll have to find the tram maintenance system. If you head out of the room you're in now from the south door, you'll come to a hallway, take the left path and head all the way to the end. The sign at the top will let you know you've got the right place. We've been trying to reach the repair system for days, but we have no access to it from the sector we're in. We were just getting ready to try the maintenance ducts in the ceiling," _he said in a joking voice, but it was obvious that he was completely serious.

Heero nodded shortly, getting ready to set out. "We'll repair the tram system and meet up with you shortly. I have technicians with me, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. How many of you are there?"

"_Right now, just me and Wufei. We've got a group of about a dozen of the crew barricaded in a safe room while we try to get the tram working. They're unarmed and untrained, so we had to find a spot of safely leave them," _Duo explained.

Heero brought a hand to the comm. unit on his ear and tapped a button, bringing up the mini screen with the schematics of the ship. He moved and zoomed until he saw a reading that indicated a gathering of life forms. "I see them," Heero confirmed. "Deck 3, on the lower bridge?"

"_You got it," _Duo said with a nod. _"If you get the tram system running and you can help it, get them out first. Wu and I will be fine on our own, the crew needs you more."_

"Understood," the Commander replied, knowing what he had to do. Part of him wanted to go after Duo and Wufei first, as their friend, but the other, logical side of him knew they would be okay and he needed to get the civilians first. That didn't stop his stomach twisting at the idea of leaving the two to fend for themselves for any length of time. But he had to consider his duties as a Commander, that he had to think rationally and go for the people who needed him the most. "We'll head to the repair system now."

"_Heero, wait," _Duo said in an odd voice, immediately putting Heero on edge. He'd only ever heard that tone in the braided man's voice a handful of times, and it was never a good thing. _"It's not just the crawlers. The bodies you may come across... you have to cut... cut their arms and legs off..."_

Heero's eyebrows furrowed in disgust and surprise. "Why?"

"_They use the bodies, Heero," _Duo said, a haunted look in his eyes. _"They infect the dead and they come back as one of those things. A lot of them that you'll see are... were crew members of this ship," _he whispered. _"If you don't make the bodies unusable, we'll just have more to deal with as we try to get out."_

Immediately, Heero's mind flashed back to the body that had fallen out of the elevator, and he was sure the men who'd been close enough to hear Duo were all thinking the same thing. "Arms, legs, head?" he clarified stiffly.

Duo nodded. "_All of 'em."_

Heero nodded curtly. "We'll find you."

"_Looking forward to it," _the braided man joked weakly. Suddenly, there was a commotion over his shoulder, and Heero saw him whip his head around intently. He heard gun shots go off, and the inhuman, piercing scream of something just out of sight. Duo turned back to the screen, his face harried. _"Remember! Cut off the limbs! Don't let them get the dead! Don't let them get close to you-!"_

Then the transmission feed cut off into static, lasting only a few seconds before the holo-screen closed and left the room in sudden piercing silence.

_End Chapter 1_

* * *

><p>A Dead Space inspired Gundam Wing fic? Yes. I went there. I so went there. While I will be drawing inspiration from it, this story will not be a replica of the game. Many of the major details will be different, I just started writing it for fun then decided to upload it.<p>

Really the only similarity will be the aliens, not the premise and back-story behind them, which I won't spoil.


	3. Chapter 2: The Descent

In Ganymede's Shadow

Chapter 2: The Descent

* * *

><p>Heero stared at the blank control panel, too aware of the pulse thrumming in his neck for comfort. <em>They're fine. They've made it this long. They're fine.<em>

Finally, Heero took a calm breath of air and turned to face his crew. They were all looking at him with pale, quiet faces, as if waiting for him to do something. Then he remembered he was Commander here. They were waiting for orders. Finally, Heero brought up a hand to tap the device clipped to his ear, bringing up a communication feed to the Wing Zero.

"_Commander Yuy," _someone greeted from the main control room.

"I need to speak to Commander Winner."

"_Right away sir."_

The Japanese man waited in silence for a few moments while they alerted Quatre, well aware of the continuing stares of his men as they too waited. He was sure they were wondering what he was planning. He was sure a good number of them were hoping he was going to announce a pull-back.

"_Heero," _Quatre said, a trace of worry in his voice. _"What's happening down there?"_

"Too much to explain right now," Heero replied tersely, glancing around when he thought he heard something in the walls. "Send in Barton with a team of back up. When he's ready to deploy, have him contact me before docking on the Peacemillion. I have instructions for him."

There was a pause on the other end, and Heero knew how badly Quatre wanted to know what was happening. But Heero's judgment had always been trusted, so he refrained from asking again for the time being. _"Alright, I'll get Trowa ready and he'll be there soon to provide back up."_

"Tell him to equip his soldiers with plasma cutters," Heero added after a pause, ending the transmission to the main ship and turning back to his crew. "Commander Barton will be here with his group. I have realized we need more help than just ourselves. We will get the tram repaired and head for the civilians first like I said, but I want another team to meet up with Maxwell and Chang at the same time. Now let's move out. Hold formation tight, I want eyes on the walls, the ceiling, everything," he instructed, returning the small groups back into one large formation.

Like Duo instructed, Heero led his men out of the tram room by the south-facing doorway, aiming his plasma rifle out into the hallway and scanning every nook and cranny before heading out. He reached up and pressed the button on his comm. unit to bring up the thermal scanner, both as a source of light and to know in advance when they would approach an enemy. They seemed to be scarce at the moment, though, as Heero didn't see any readings other than his crew and the few operational emergency generators. _Where are they all? _he wondered, taking the men down the left path of the corridor.

Just as he was beginning to think his scanner was on the fritz, he switched over to the energy reader and stopped in surprise when it showed him an energy source straight ahead. "Cold blooded...?" he wondered aloud, just as a screech of metal echoed hollowly down at the end of the hall. For a few tense moments, nobody dared breathe, focusing on the lone fan at the far wall, spinning lazily behind the grate.

Everyone jumped when all at once a horrid, inhuman scream pierced the air just as something smashed through the grating. What looked like a mass of flesh and limbs fell out and steadied itself, focusing solely on Heero and his crew. Without any time to react, the thing charged forward, rearing long, blade-tipped arms up into the air as it prepared to rip them into bloody shreds. Heero pulled his rifle up and let off a shot, hitting it once in the chest without any effect. Then he remembered Duo's instructions and took careful aim, even as it barreled towards him at frightening speed. One well placed shot took out the creature's left leg, drawing a putrid scream from its slack, slathering jaw. Four more shots took out its remaining limbs one by one, even as it continued to drag its dying body towards them with a single minded purpose. Finally, one more shot from the pulse rifle took off its head, and the body finally collapsed with a shudder.

Everyone remained still in the suddenly deafening silence, daring not to speak after their first meeting with the hostiles. The bloody corpse on the ground lay mutilated, definitely looking like something once-human. The human shape and upright stance remained, but that was pretty much it. The arms stretched out into long, jagged blades, while a pair of feebly shrunken arms emerged from the lower part of the torso. The joints and other main areas of movement looked almost rotted, exposed muscle and sinew lending the pale, fleshy body a gruesome splash of color. The still rolling head came to a stop then, exposing white lifeless eyes and a missing lower jaw fixed in a permanent snarl.

"C...Commander?"

Heero almost jumped when one of his men broke the silence, turning around to see their grim faces looking at him. Willing his hammering heart to slow down, Heero gestured with a flick of his hand to keep moving, and stepped over the scattered limbs to be hesitantly followed by his crew. They kept moving down the hallway, checking doors to make sure they wouldn't be cornered farther down because of a missed alien.

At the end of the hallway, Heero spun around when shooting broke out at the back of the group. He saw another one of the horrible things hurtling towards them only to lose balance and hit the ground when the men holding up the rear began to shoot. They were riddled with fear, but obviously pushing past it as they neatly clipped off its limbs to bring it down.

"They were just watching us at first," Heero whispered in a low voice, half to himself and half to his men. "Now they deem us a threat. Now they're on the offensive," he said grimly. No one said a word in reply and they kept moving, filing into the last door at the end as guns held at the ready kept every direction covered. The tram repair room was just like the rest of the ship, empty save for some scattered cargo and dried blood. The crew moved as a group to scout out the room first, checking doorways, stairwells, more fan chutes, and the center console. Heero set his technicians to work on the controls, where a large pair of robot arms screeched to life and began to move on the tram line above. The rest of the men formed a half circle around the techs, one row facing inside and the other row facing outside.

Heero stood with the outside ring, holding his rifle at the ready until his comm. unit beeped quietly. He reached up to press the button, speaking in a low voice. "Yuy."

"_Heero, we're ready to deploy. What are your instructions?" _Trowa voice greeted him.

"Is Winner present with you?" Heero asked quietly.

There was a pause, as if Trowa had been thrown off by the question and was trying to figure out the meaning. "_No, why?"_

"I prefer him not to hear," Heero explained. "I made contact with Maxwell and Chang through the ship's comm. unit and they gave me important intel. The attack is worse than we first surmised. It is an infestation."

"_Infestation? How is that?"_

"The hostiles are acting as an infecting agent. Besides the original attackers, they have increased their ranks through their own means. They infest the fallen bodies of the dead and turn them into more of the aliens. Many of them used to be crew members, and any remaining bodies you find must be mutilated to make them unusable. You need to remove the limbs and the head, otherwise they will infest the corpse."

"_...Oh," _Trowa said after a moment, sounding slightly taken aback by the revelation. "_So that's why you requested the cutters. Anything else we should know?"_

"They are in the maintenance shafts," Heero said. "They will be in the ceilings, the walls, the maintenance tunnels. They may come from any direction, so don't limit your guard to in front and behind you," he warned. "Assume they could be anywhere."

"_Understood_," Trowa replied tersely. There was a pause on his end, and Heero knew he was itching to ask something, so he waited. After a few moments, Trowa spoke again, sounding almost wary. "_How are Duo and Wufei_?" he asked carefully.

Heero thought back to his short communication with the two temp agents, remembering the inhuman scream and Duo's desperate warnings before the connection cut. He swallowed, steadying himself before replying. He didn't want to worry Trowa anymore. "Holding up," he replied. "This attack has taken its toll on them, but they are holding together."

"_It would take its toll on anyone," _Trowa mused softly.

"We'll get them out safely," the Japanese man declared in a level voice. "They've lasted this long, but I want still want you and your group to find them while we find the civilians."

"_Of course. I'll see you down there."_

_I hope so, _Heero thought grimly.

* * *

><p>Wufei made a look of annoyance as he kicked the severed arm off of his boot, watching the limb flop away to rest in a puddle of growing blood. The body of the crawler gave one last shudder as it gurgled grotesquely, signaling its death.<p>

"Well shit," Duo said in the sudden deafening silence. "That probably freaked the hell outta Heero," he mused with a grimace, scratching the back of his neck.

"Good," Wufei replied calmly. "It will better prepare him for what he'll encounter. Then maybe we'll all come out of this intact," he said in a dry voice.

"Don't be so serious all the time," the brunette said with a smirk, licking his thumb and rubbing a fleck of blood splatter off the other man's cheek. His efforts earned him nothing but a dirty look from Wufei, but he was unaffected.

Wufei sighed and rolled his eyes upwards, knowing he couldn't win this fight. "Come on, let's try to find another way while Yuy and his men fix the tram," he said, gesturing for the other man to follow. Duo snickered and trotted along after Wufei, reloading his gun as he always did when it was calm like this. He didn't care if he wasted a few bullets here and there, he'd much rather have a full clip when one -or six- of those crawlers showed up from the vents.

"So," he said, strolling alongside Wufei with his gun at the ready. "Do you think we'll live through this now that somebody knows we're here?"

The Chinese man grunted in response, but at a pointed look from Duo, he elaborated his thoughts. "I would tell you I hope so, but hope isn't something we can afford right now. We'll continue to survive, and if that takes us off this god forsaken ship then all the better."

"C'mon Wu, stop being so serious," Duo replied quietly, lacking his usual trace of humor. These last few days had beaten it out of him, and now he found it hard to be his jokester self at the best of times.

"One of us has to be," Wufei replied. "You're too busy being the light of my life," he drawled in a dry voice.

Duo felt a grin quirk his lips, despite the approaching sounds of a crawler. "How sweet," he said sarcastically, readying his gun for the next blood bath. "But it doesn't take much to fill that role in this shit hole," he snickered, taking a pot-shot at the alien right as it rounded the corner.

* * *

><p>When Trowa led his men onto docking bay of Peacemillion, he tried not to let his stomach churn at the same sight that had greeted Heero earlier. The amount of blood splatter on the floor and walls made it look like a massacre had occurred, and it was spooking the soldiers as they filed out and took in the scene. Besides the spatters of blood, the dimly flickering emergency lights weren't helping at all the make the area look welcoming.<p>

He definitely didn't like the shifting of the shadows, it kept playing tricks on his eyes and he almost squeezed the trigger of his plasma cutter less than thirty seconds of being on the ship. He could only wonder what kind of creatures would leave this sort of carnage in their wake, but all he knew was that he didn't want himself or any of his men on the receiving end of those aliens. He just had to find Duo and Wufei and get everyone to safety. Then they could quarantine the ship and flush out the rest of the infestation.

"Okay," he said finally, turning to his troops to address them. "I know how this looks. I don't like it anymore than you do. But we have to find Duo and Wufei," he said, earning murmurs of agreement from the cautiously quiet group. "We are going to head to their location and stay on guard. I've already briefed you on what we know of these creatures, so just hold formation, watch each other's backs, and everyone will go home in one piece with our agents intact. Remember their weak points, don't try to aim for a heart or the organs, just go for the legs first to get them down, then arms and head. Understood?"

The men all nodded together, and Trowa squared himself as he turned around to face the bowels of the ship, which reminded him rather much of a dark alleyway that he wouldn't go into if he had a say in the matter. But he wasn't going to sit around while Heero and the others risked their lives for his friends who were also in danger. The more people spread out on the ship, the more of the aliens they took out and the more area they covered to find survivors.

As they set off into the interior of the ship, following the thermal readings on the scanner, Trowa had to wonder how anyone could survive ten days of what looked like a blatant massacre. Wufei and Duo were expertly trained agents and always quick to adapt, but this would have given even Heero a run for his money. Their condition couldn't have been optimal after this long, and it urged him to find the missing temp agents as soon as possible.

As his group progressed, he and Heero kept checking in with each other and reporting their status and positions. Too much radio silence put the men on edge and they found it easier to just quietly report in from time to time. No one in his group was talking, so it also gave Trowa a little sound to keep the uneasy silence at bay. He didn't want to attract attention to his group, but even he couldn't handle this suffocating quiet. It helped to know someone else was alive on this ghost ship.

It wasn't long before they passed the mess hall for that particular deck. After a moment of thought, Trowa quietly gestured for his men to follow so they could check it out. He'd heard from Heero that Duo and Wufei had some survivors barricaded somewhere, but there could have been more people taking refuge. This seemed a likely place with the freeze dried food that would not spoil, and the mess halls on this big miner ships usually had some reinforced storage lockers, which could make for a good hiding place.

But when they eased inside to take a look, all that met them was the musty smell of freeze dried rations, accompanied by a more sour smell. He realized a tray of rations and bottled water had been violently strewn about, and with the re-hydrated food exposed to room temperature it had created a disgusting smell to add to that of blood.

Trowa willed his stomach to behave and lead his men forward once more. They walked further down the long hallway, ignoring most of the doors in favor of heading for the life readings on his scanner. They eventually came to a huge observation deck, allowing a view of Ganymede and the massive form of Jupiter beyond it. Debris and wreckage floated serenely outside the thick glass, mingling with the asteroid field that was held in Ganymede's gravity pull. The sight was both amazing and frightening, as they could see wreckage from the ship they were on, and he wondered how much of the vessel had been compromised.

"Commander, look!" One of the men said, and the tone of his voice was not of fear, but one of relief and pleasant surprise.

When Trowa turned to look at the man and follow where his finger was pointing, it took him a few moments to find it. Beyond the thick wall of glass that sectioned off a zero-G work station, the ruined remains of machinery and tools floated serenely in the lack of gravity. Trowa's gaze went beyond the tool box that had come undone from its safety latches, to the other side of the observation deck where two figures stood. One of them was pointing right back at them, the other hand tugging on his companion's sleeve.

Then when they both turned back to look at Trowa and his group, they noticed they had been seen as well. One of them abruptly started waving excitedly, the huge grin on his face visible even from the distance spanning between them. Trowa felt his shoulders slump a fraction and the flood of relief prompted him to wave back, not quite as enthusiastically as Duo, but it spoke enough. Wufei stood beside the brunette across the bridge, his plasma rifle at the ready but still looking happy. Duo held his hands out, palms facing forward in the universal sign for 'stay put.'

Trowa watched him curiously, wondering what the braided man was up to as he tugged Wufei down the hall. For a few moments, he lost the two behind a floating generator as he waited, unsure of what to do. Then, a beeping behind him made the group of soldiers turn in surprise. Against the observation window directly behind them was a long row of monitoring equipment and consoles. The part that was beeping was a comm. station, and Trowa headed over to it while the rest of the group covered his back. He pressed the flashing button and watched as the holo-screen popped up, revealing Duo's still grinning face up close.

"_Welcome to the party, Tro!" _he said in delight. It was one thing to talk to Heero remotely over the screen, but Trowa and his rescue party were only a few yards away by sight.

"Duo," Trowa said in relief, happy to see his friends alive and well. "Are you both alright?"

"_Hangin' in there Trowa, we're hangin' in there," _he assured, an affirmative coming from Wufei, who was in the background guarding Duo's blind side.

"How do we get to you?" the taller man asked.

"_Well, most direct way would be through the zero-G field behind you, but it's probably not the smartest," _he said with a rueful smirk. "_When the storm hit us, a lot of shit was dislodged, and most of the tech in the zero-G fields were knocked loose. So a lot of stuff is floating around and it would probably take your head off if you go in there," _he explained.

"So around?" Trowa queried.

"_No other option. If you take your pack and head down the left corridor, keep going until you see the zero-G door. Ignore it an' keep going down the walkway to the northern side of the observation deck. The connecting hallway should have a door that will lead to the half me an' Wu are in. We'll meet you halfway," _Duo explained.

"Alright, we'll see you soon," Trowa replied with a nod, watching the screen go blank when Duo cut the feed. He turned around to address his group. "Alright men, our targets are right beyond the Zero-G chamber. Let's just move quickly and we'll be able to get out of here."

It took longer than he expected to navigate the huge observation deck, as they had to move around debris while cross the large area. Part of the deck was made up of catwalks that ran alongside the large zero-G work field, and a lot of those walkways had been damaged. Trowa had to take his men and double back a few times to find a new route, all the while the strange silence of the observation deck was making him edgy. They still hadn't seen any of the aliens Heero warned them of, and he was beginning to wonder if maybe they were being watched.

But nothing happened as they finally reached the northern end of the room. A large reinforced door led to the inside of the zero-G workstation, but they bypassed that in accordance to Duo's instructions. Another large doorway opened before them, revealing not only the adjoining hall that should lead to their target, but also one of the other occupants of the ship.

For a moment, Trowa and his men stood frozen in shock as the horrid creature stared back at them. Everything about it turned his stomach, made his insides twist in disgust and horror. The black, soulless eyes, the slathering mouth that was missing the lower jaw and leaking blood and slobber, the rotting flesh hanging off of crooked and malformed bones.

After a staring match that seemed to last an eternity, the creature let out a piercing scream that ripped past its own curdled blood, darting forward with a startling speed that rendered the men frozen once more.

A loud blast startled them all as a plasma shot ripped through the monster's left leg, sending it to the floor with a shrill scream of pain. Even then, it still used its arms to drag itself towards Trowa, but a few more well placed shots seconds later took off the remaining limbs and sent its head rolling across the floor.

"Christ on crackers, what'ya waiting for, a bus?"

Trowa looked up in surprise to see Duo striding over with his plasma rifle in hand, Wufei following behind him and keeping an eye on the doorways and the vents. The brunette continued unhindered. "The room ain't gonna kill it for you, y'gotta _shoot _the gun when they come running at you, otherwise it ain't gonna do jack shit. C'mon Tro, they trained you better than that," he chastised, stopping right in front of the taller man and using one arm to pull him in for a hug. Trowa was still stunned silent from the whole thing, but managed to return the quick hug, relieved to see his friends alive.

Duo pulled away after a moment, giving Trowa a stern look that was totally lacking his usual humor. "I mean it! I don't wanna turn my back to have those things rip you up! I've seen it enough already, don't let me catch you being mauled by Big Bob or I'll kill you myself!" he exclaimed in warning.

Trowa felt his eyebrows slowly draw together, wondering which part of that sentence he should dissect first. He settled for the most obvious and ignored the redundant threat. "Big Bob?" he asked warily.

Duo blinked, his mouth hanging open mid-word to reply when he really thought about the question. He snapped his mouth shut and wrinkled his nose, turning a grim look to Wufei. The Chinese man seemed to be in on whatever disturbing thing the braided man had realized, judging by the matching expression. "Aw shit," Duo said slowly.

"I forgot to tell Heero."

_End Chapter 2_


End file.
